‘Game of Thrones’ Hits New Ratings High; Episode 6 Video Preview

Game of Thrones is one of the best shows currently on television, thanks to its heavy reliance on character development, political intrigue, and suspense – not to mention the excellent acting from all parties involved.

Though Thrones started out with somewhat underwhelming ratings, those ratings have steadily risen with every new episode – and Sunday was no exception. Today, we have a video preview of episode six, “A Golden Crown.” And if you’re an HBO GO® user, you’ll immediately be able to watch episode seven after episode six has aired!

First, the ratings, courtesy of EW.com: Like the Sunday before it and the Sunday before that, episode six of Game of Thrones experienced a ratings high with 2.6 million people watching the 9 p.m. airing and 3.3 million viewers total for the night. This is extremely good news for a continuity-heavy show that is still building its story toward the midseason point.

Second, the preview for episode six, “A Golden Crown”:

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Last week’s fight between Ned Stark (Sean Bean) and pretty boy Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was one of the more stressful experiences thus far in the show, due primarily to how likable and endearing Stark is. It proved how effective the rare but awesome action scene can be with a foundation of top-notch character and plot development to support it.

“A Golden Crown” seems to be a continuation of that stress with the persecution of the also very likable and endearing Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) – mockingly nicknamed “The Imp” – by Stark’s wife, Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley).

It seems highly questionable at this point that Catelyn would take the story of who hired her son’s (attempted) murderer at face value and truly believe that Tyrion was responsible, especially considering Tyrion is well-known for his intelligence and would never be implicated so easily. Hopefully, Thrones doesn’t prolong this development well past the point of plausibility.

Lastly, there’s a pretty awesome deal courtesy of HBO that will allow HBO GO users to watch episode seven of Game of Thrones an entire week early. Check it out below:

Following the debut of episode six of Game of Thrones on Sunday, May 22 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET), episode seven of the hit HBO series, entitled “You Win or You Die,” will immediately be available to subscribers on the HBO GO platform. HBO GO can be accessed at hbogo.com or via the HBO GO app – now available for download on Apple’s iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® and numerous smartphones using Google’s Android™ operating system – and is free of charge to HBO subscribers through participating television providers.

“You Win or You Die” debuts on the main HBO channel on Sunday, May 29 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin, GAME OF THRONES was created by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss; executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss; co-executive producers, Carolyn Strauss, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and George R.R. Martin; producers, Mark Huffam and Frank Doelger.

So basically, if you’re an HBO user – which one presumes you are if you’re watching Game of Thrones – HBO GO is free of charge. The only downside is, you’ll have to watch “You Win or You Die” on your computer, your iPad, or your smartphone, which is probably considerably smaller than your television. Probably.